Guide to the Chinese American Women's Club of Santa Clara County Records
SJSU Library Special Collections and Archives
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San Jose State University
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192-0028
Phone: (408) 808-2062
Fax: (408) 808-2063
Email: special.collections@sjsu.edu
URL: http://library.sjsu.edu/sjsu-special-collections/sjsu-special-collections-and-archives
© 2006
Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Chinese American Women's Club of Santa Clara County Records
Collection number: MSS-2004-02
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
Phone: (408) 808-2062
Fax: (408) 808-2063
Email: special.collections@sjsu.edu
URL: http://library.sjsu.edu/sjsu-special-collections/sjsu-special-collections-and-archives
- Processed by:
- Amytha Willard, revised by Danelle Moon and Deb Sica
- Date Completed:
- 2005
- Encoded by:
- Bernard Yeh
© 2006 Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Chinese American Women's Club of Santa Clara County Records
Dates: 1962-1999
Collection number: MSS-2004-02
Creator:
Chinese American Women's Club of Santa Clara County
Collection Size:
2 cartons, 8 boxes, and 1 half-box
(6.5 linear feet)
Repository:
San Jose State University. Library.
San Jose, California 95192-0028
Abstract:
The Chinese American Women's Club of Santa Clara County Records (1962-1999) documents the activities of a civic club whose
mission is to "preserve Chinese culture and traditions and serve [the] community where needed."
The collection materials include correspondence, meeting minutes, personal notes, awards and plaques, newsletters, news clippings,
photographs, scrapbooks, printed matter, event planning materials and donation records.
Physical location: Vault 1, Range 20B
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the San Jose State University Library Special Collections and Archives. All requests for
permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the Special Collections and Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions
also apply to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational
purposes.
Preferred Citation
Chinese American Women's Club of Santa Clara County Records, MSS-2004-02, San Jose State University Library Special Collections
and Archives.
Processing History
Preliminary processing and guide prepared by Amytha Willard, 2004. Final processing completed by Deb Sica and Danelle Moon,
2005. EAD encoding by Bernard Yeh, 2006.
Organizational History
The Chinese American Women's Club of Santa Clara County (CAWC) was founded in 1962 by a group of women who were brought together
by the common thread of preserving Chinese culture through educating their children. While their children attended a weekly
Chinese school and learned Chinese languages, the mothers would meet and discuss different topics. The weekly meetings soon
became a discussion about starting a cultural club; a club that would support, educate and befriend the entire community.
CAWC's mission is to "preserve Chinese culture and traditions and serve [the] community where needed." The founders combined
cultural activities with fundraising to create opportunities to educate the community and generate revenue for future organizing
efforts. They formed and strengthened existing alliances by combining efforts with other Bay Area Chinese organizations.
In March 1978, CAWC learned of a new project to rebuild the Ng Shing Gung Temple, but the project was in need of financial
support. The Ng Shing Gung Temple, also known as the Joss House and the Temple of the Five Gods, was built in 1888. In 1941,
it was under threat of demolition by the city of San Jose and in 1949 the city finally demolished the dilapidated building.
Community organizations planned to raise enough money to build a replica in History Park at Kelley Park in San Jose. CAWC,
and other local organizations, raised the money to fund the project, and the temple is now open to the public.
The CAWC sponsored a number of cultural events, including the Autumn Moon Festival at the San Jose Historical Museum Site.
The first festival was held on Sunday, September 24, 1978. The event included arts, crafts, a food fair, a temple run (marathon),
an artifact exhibit and a performance by the Chung Ngai Dance Troupe. In 1979, the Autumn Moon Festival was held on Sunday,
October 7th and included a martial arts demonstration, a fine arts exhibit, fashion show, musical performance and dance recital.
In 1987, celebrating its 25th anniversary, the organization planned and hosted a large-scale fashion show luncheon called
"Lasting Legacy." This well-planned and executed event combined the efforts of many local organizations. The San Jose Historical
Museum prepared a slide show and contributed a historical exhibit of artifacts. The event was attended by Chief Assistant
Secretary of State, Jenece Long, Santa Clara County Supervisor, Tom Legan, San José Vice Mayor, Iola Williams, Councilwoman,
Blanca Alvarado, Los Altos Mayor, Roger Eng and various presidents and diplomats from leading Bay Area Asian organizations.
The organization continues to promote Chinese cultural heritage, and many of the members are now third and fourth generation
Chinese-Americans.
Scope and Content
The Chinese American Women's Club of Santa Clara County Records documents the organization from 1962 to 1999. The collection
materials include correspondence, meeting minutes, personal notes, awards and plaques, newsletters, news clippings, photographs,
scrapbooks, printed matter, event planning materials and donation records. The collection documents the organization's promotion
and preservation of Chinese culture and service to the larger Bay Area Chinese community. The collection is arranged in three
series: Series I, Administrative Records, Series II, Community Activities and Programs, Series III, Outreach and Publicity.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Chinese American Women's Club of Santa Clara County.
Chinese American women--California--Santa Clara County--History--20th century--Sources.
Chinese Americans--California--Santa Clara County--History--20th century--Sources.
Chinese Americans--California--Santa Clara County--Social life and customs.
Index Terms Related to this Collection
San Jose State University. Library. Special Collections & Archives.
Collection Contents
Series I:
Administrative Records
1962-1992
Physical Description: 1 Box
Series Scope and Content Summary
The contents in this series represent the organizational, fiscal and administrative records of Chinese American Women's Club
of Santa Clara County (CAWC). This is the smallest series in the collection, but it contains important, targeted information
for researchers looking to obtain factual information about the constitution and by-laws, the organizational structure, the
framework for decision-making and documented accounts of planning and execution of administrative tasks. Papers include financial
records, the constitution and bylaws, membership rosters, meeting agendas and approved minutes, membership applications, memoranda
and other records that illustrate the daily management of the group.
Arrangement
This series is arranged chronologically by date within each folder. The first folder contains financial records from multiple
years, whereas the remaining folders are organized by year.
Box : Folder 1 : 1
Financial Records
1962-1974
Box 1
Administrative Records
1969-1992
Series II:
Community Activities and Programs
1969-1970
1976-1994
Physical Description: 2 boxes, 2 cartons
Series Scope and Content Summary
The contents in this series represent event planning and community participation. The main events represented in this series
are the Autumn Moon Festival, Agnew Community Awareness Day, the Pageant of the Great Mandarin, Lasting Legacy Luncheon and
various temple reconstruction fundraisers. Due to the original order, there are some administrative records interfiled into
the event planning records in this series. The scrapbooks, historian notebooks, clippings, photographs, flyers and other event
memorabilia contained in this series provide both textual and visual representations of community events.
Arrangement
This series is arranged chronologically. Box 2 is chronological within each folder. Boxes 3, 4 and 5 are chronologically ordered
according to the year the scrapbook or historian notebook was created.
Box 2
Community Activities and Programming
Series III:
Outreach and Publicity
1965-1999
Physical Description: 6 boxes
Series Scope and Content Summary
The contents in this series represent Chinese American Women's Club's work in the larger Chinese community. The series contains
newsletters, correspondence, awards and certificates of appreciation, news clippings, directories, county resource guides,
photographic materials, a cookbook and cultural sound recordings geared towards children. A researcher looking to investigate
the influence of organizational outreach efforts would find the materials in this series of great importance.
Arrangement
This series is arranged chronologically. Box 6 is chronological within each folder for folders 1-18 with miscellaneous printed
matter in folder 19. In box 7, folders 1-5 are arranged chronologically. For folders with multiple images from the same date,
the original order has been maintained. The remaining folders contain undated photographic materials and are arranged alphabetically
according to the description of the pictorial content.
Box:Folder 6:20
Miscellaneous Printed Matter
n.d.
Heritage Club Plaque
1988
Chinese Historic and Cultural Project Plaque
1988
Golden Legacy Plaque
1990
Patron's Club Plaque
1990
Benefactor's Club Plaque
1991
Folder 1
State of California Award
1987
Folder 2
City of San José Awards
1987-1988
Folder 3
Chinese Summer Festival Award
1999
Folder 4
Agnews State Hospital Badge
n.d.
Folder 2
Cookbook Administrative Records
1982-1997
Folder 3
Chinese Cooking Our Legacy
1998
Item added to collection August 17, 2006.
Folder 1
Marn-Ling Instrumental LP Record
1971
Folder 2
Marn-Ling Lion Dance LP Record
1972
